High Stakes
by MCR-1993
Summary: Nancy Nickerson quit being a detective over five years ago. Now, when a family friend needs help clearing his name, will she jump back in? Or has a five year absence made this an impossible case to solve?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everybody, I hope you enjoy this story. The prequel to it is called Family Blessings. I would recommend reading that first. :) This story takes place four years after Family Blessings ends.**

** Thank you to God for giving me the ability to write, to my beta, and my family.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Nancy Drew or any of the characters you recognize.**

**I always put my character descriptions separate from my stories, so here we go:**

**Nancy Elizabeth Nickerson: twenty nine, 5'7", and slender, with slightly wavy titian hair and round blueberry blue eyes. She has a creamy skin tone, freckles, dimples, and an oval shaped face. She has lived in Chicago all her life, and is now, after stopping her detective work, a stay-at-home wife and mother.**

**Ned William Nickerson: thirty one, 5'11½", and muscular, with wavy brown hair and warm brown eyes. He has a slightly tan complexion, dimples, and an oval shaped face. He has lived in Chicago all his life, and works as a sales consultant for a local car dealership.**

**Abigail Louise Nickerson: four, 3' 3", tiny and petite, with wavy brown hair and soft brown eyes a shade lighter than her daddy's. She has a light complexion, freckles on her nose, a dimple in one cheek, and an oval shaped face. She loves learning her numbers, coloring, and learning her ABCs. She also loves to laugh, eat, and sleep.**

**Matthew Ned Nickerson: nine months, 29", tiny and lean, with wavy brown hair and bright blue eyes. He has a slightly tan complexion, freckles, dimples, and an oval shaped face. He loves to play, role on the floor, eat, and watch his big sis do her work. **

Chapter 1

Nancy Nickerson readjusted Matthew on her hip as she watched Abigail play on the floor with her dolls. She had never imagined that she would have such a wonderful family; Ned was moving up in his company and was now a manager, Abby had recently turned four and was now in pre-school, and her little son, Matthew, was the most adorable nine-month-old she had ever seen.

Nancy sighed softly as she set her son in his playpen, making sure that he had enough toys, and made her way into the kitchen. She loved her family beyond words, but she missed the hustle and bustle of her detective work; she still had a hard time believing that it had been a little over five years since she stopped being a detective.

As if reminding Nancy for her reason to stop, her little boy cried for her from his playpen and Abby called for her as well.

She smiled as she walked into the living room. "Alright baby, Mama's right here." She picked up her son and turned to her daughter. "What is it, Abby?"

"Look what I drew, Mommy." Her daughter handed her a picture that she had drawn of her family, smiling at the work she had done. She stood up with her small arms behind her back and a little grin on her face, a grin that reminded Nancy so much of Ned.

"It's beautiful, baby—you did a great job." She gave her daughter a one armed hug, and then went to hang the picture on the refrigerator.

* * *

Just after five, while Nancy was finishing nursing Matthew, the front door opened and her husband stepped into the house. Abby immediately jumped off the couch and ran to her daddy, her brown waves bouncing behind her.

Nancy's heart skipped a beat at the sight of Ned and their little girl: Ned had his arms wrapped around her as he gave her a big hug. "Hey sweet girl; have you been good for Mommy today?"

Abby placed her hands on his face as she said in a serious voice, "I'm always a good girl, Daddy." She turned to look at her Mom. "Right, Mommy?"

Nancy stood up with Matthew, his head resting on her shoulder, and came over towards them. "She was a very good girl today." She kissed her husband hello, wrapping one arm around his neck. He kissed her back and held her close; they loved each other so much.

As they pulled apart but kept their arms around each other, Ned was vaguely aware of their four-year-old making a disgusted sound about her parents kissing before she ran out of the room. He laughed and kissed Nancy on the forehead.

"Dada!" Their little boy reached for his father and Ned took him into his arms.

"Hey little fella. How are you doing?" He kissed him on the head and momentarily forgot about his very hectic and stressful day.

Nancy kissed him one more time as she slipped out of his embrace. "How was work, dear?" Nancy asked as she took her husband's coat, reminding him of what he wanted to talk to her about.

He sighed as he sat down on the couch with their son and motioned for her to join them. "You remember how a couple of weeks ago I told you that some money had gone missing at work, and that things weren't adding up?" She nodded her head, a worried expression on her face. "Well, more money has gone missing. Only now they're pointing fingers at someone: all evidence is pointing towards Jim."

Nancy could hardly believe it. Jim Cavanaugh was their best friend, had been for years. There was no way he could embezzle money. Ned had known him since they were children, he had been the best man at their wedding, and he was Abby's Godfather. "How on earth can they accuse him of doing something like that? He's been with the company longer than you have."

Ned shook his head, holding their little son closer. "I don't know. They just said that it was because he is in charge of all the money: he's the accountant, so he pays the bills. They said that until evidence proves otherwise, he is their main suspect." His friend was completely torn up about the whole thing.

"How much has been taken?" She figured that it was probably a lot if the CEOs of the car company were already pointing fingers.

Ned ran his free hand through his hair, as he said softly, "At least six thousand dollars has been taken."

Nancy was in total shock. How on earth was Jim going to prove his innocence?

**Authors Note. Well, I hope that you all liked this first chapter. :) This is my first time writing a mystery, so I hope it all goes well. I will update this once a week.**

**A million thanks to my beta reader. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, 4 reviews for chapter one! Thank you everyone. :) I really hope chapter two is just as good as the first.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Nancy Drew or any of the characters you recognize.**

Chapter 2

Nancy sighed softly as she looked over at her husband, barely seeing him in the moonlit room; she knew that Jim's predicament was really upsetting Ned. She rolled over onto her side and turned on the light beside the bed. "Ned, I really want to help."

He rolled over so that he could see her face. "What do mean, help?" Ned gazed at her with soft, questioning eyes.

"I, I want to investigate what's going on at your work, with Jim." Nancy had thought a lot about it, and truly felt that it was the right decision. She had been a detective for years, had solved countless crimes, and knew quite a few tricks to help her solve a case.

"Are you sure, Nan? You haven't taken on any detective work since we got married." He gently held his wife's hand in his own.

"I'm sure. I really want to help Jim; he's our friend and he needs us. Will you support me on this?" She gazed into his eyes, knowing that he always worried about her when she was working on cases.

In answer to her question he gently kissed her lips, brushing his nose against her own. "I'll worry about you, you know I will, but I know if anyone can help Jim, it's you."

* * *

Since the next day was Saturday, Ned invited Jim over to the house so they could discuss a plan of action.

Abby pouted as Nancy carried her upstairs to her room, complaining that she didn't want to go. "But Mommy, I love Uncle Jim; please let me stay down?" She gave her mama her best pout, and made her big blue eyes even bigger.

Nancy had to hold back a chuckle; Abby sure knew she was cute, and she took advantage of it. "Now baby, your daddy and I have to talk to Uncle Jim in private, but you can see him before he goes, okay?" She hoped that would appease her little girl.

Abby was still not too happy about being left out, but seemed at least a little mollified by that piece of news. After checking on Matthew and making sure that he was all right, Nancy made her way downstairs.

* * *

Jim looked from Ned to Nancy as Nan told him what she wanted to do. "I could go undercover, completely change my looks, and no one will know me. It's perfect," she said, summing up.

Jim considered her plan and shook his head. "Nan, I really do appreciate that you want to help me, but I can't ask you to do that. What if someone catches you or threatens you? I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you because of me." He truly loved his friends and couldn't imagine not having them in his life.

Ned leaned forward and said softly, "Jim, we talked about it last night and weighed all the options; this really could work. I know Nan, she can do this. She's gone undercover so many times I can't even count them. Besides, I'll be there every day too, keeping a close eye on her." He kissed his wife on the cheek, holding her close.

"Jim, I want to do this." What Nancy said was short, but directly to the point. She wanted to help her friend and was going to, whether he said yes or no.

Jim sighed as he ran his hand through his wavy brown hair. "All right—I know not to mess with you two when you make up your minds." He smiled at them softly, and had never felt more grateful for them.

**Authors Note. Hi all! I wanted to update once a week, so here is chapter two. :) I hope everyone likes it.**

**Again, thanks loads to my beta reader. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you to all of my reviewers! :) I hope everyone likes chapter three. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own ND.**

Chapter 3

Nancy was quite proud of herself; her hair was now light brown, she had colored contacts in her eyes so that they were brown, and she had even donned a pair of light-pink-framed glasses to complete her disguise.

"Nan, are you sure you want to do this?" Ned stood in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest, and a worried expression on his face. He loved Nancy so much; she was the love of his life and the mother of his children.

A sympathetic look crossed her face as she walked over to her husband. "Ned, I know how worried you're going to be about me, heck I'm a little worried, too, but I promise that I will be incredibly careful on this case. Plus, I know I can always count on you." She smiled as she leaned in and kissed him, their worries fading away.

* * *

Nancy took a deep breath as she gazed at one of the men working in the accounting office with Jim; they had all agreed that Nancy would initially focus on the people in that department. She had quickly learned about them and what their motives could be for stealing the money and putting the blame on Jim. First on the list was Mark Landon, assistant head of the department, whose ambition to take Jim's position could be his motive. Lindsey Peterson had been head of the department for a few months before Jim had replaced her, so Jim was worried that even though she had been named secretary and seemed fine with him now, that she harbored some ill feeling towards him. Then there was Henry Forbs, a man who completely detested Jim; he had disliked him since the moment Jim walked through the door, and Jim knew that Henry wouldn't mind seeing him gone.

Nancy made her way over to Mark, a smile on her face. 'All right, let's do this!' she thought to herself.

Nancy clutched her cup of coffee in her hand tightly as she introduced herself to Mark as a new employee who wanted to meet her coworkers and find out about her new workplace. "So, how long have you worked here?"

Mark leaned against his chair, arm raised above his head, as he said in a strong voice, "I've worked here for a little over six years now."

"Wow, that's a long time. About as long as Jim Cavanaugh—I met him this morning." She watched his expression, and saw a quick spasm of anger cross his face, but it left just as quickly as it came.

"Yes, we started at the same time. When the time came to choose someone to take over for Lindsey, the board chose Jim." His voice sounded bitter, and to Nancy he seemed like a promising suspect.

**Author's Note. Hi all! I'm so sorry for updating a few days late; I've been sick. :( I hope everyone liked this chapter. :) I will introduce Lindsey and Henry in the next chapter.**

**Please read and review. :)**

**Again, thanks loads to my beta reader. I could not be doing this without my beta. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you to all of my reviewers! :) I hope everyone likes chapter four. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own ND.**

Chapter 4

Nancy took a deep breath as she made her way to Lindsey; the young woman was sitting at her desk working on a letter. "Hello, my name is Kelly Maverick; I'm the new junior assistant." Nancy held out her hand as she waited for Lindsey to reciprocate.

Lindsey turned to her with a smile, a genuine one quite unlike the one she had received from Mark. "Hello, I'm Lindsey. I was told that you were coming in today, and that I was to train you." There was no rudeness in her voice and no malice; she seemed genuinely kind. But Nancy knew that just because she _seemed_ kind didn't mean she was.

They spent a good portion of the morning together. Nancy was trying to get to know Lindsey, and trying to get Lindsey to trust her. When the subject of Jim came up, Lindsey began to change; she became quiet and seemed slightly uncomfortable.

"So, I hear that the head of this department is in some pretty big trouble; no one will say much to me about it, though. What can you tell me about him?" Nancy waited for Lindsey to respond; Lindsey was just staring at the ground as they walked.

Lindsey fiddled with her fingers as she said, "Well, I don't want to say much—I don't really feel like it's my place to talk about it, but Jim is being accused of taking some money from the company. But, to tell you the truth, I just can't see Jim doing anything like that; he has been with this company for so long."

Nancy was shocked to say the least that Lindsey was sticking up for Jim, but she tried not to let that show in her voice. "So you think he wouldn't have done anything like that? Does he seem like a pretty good guy?" She wanted to know what Lindsey thought of him, because Mark told her that he couldn't stand Jim on a personal or a professional level. She had also discovered that it was totally unprovoked on Jim's part.

A soft blush began to appear on Lindsey's face as she said softly, "I don't mind Jim—I like him actually. Most people, him included, would be very shocked to hear that I do." At Nancy's questioning look, she continued. "I was the head of this department at one time—Jim took over about two years ago. I was furious about it at first, but then I began to see that he really was doing a great job at it, better than I had been. He also helped to fix some financial trouble the company was in. I've never told him how I really felt, so he probably thinks that I hate him." When she finished speaking she looked at Nancy with big brown eyes. "I'm sorry, that was a lot more than you wanted to hear, I'll bet."

"No, that's fine; I enjoyed listening to you." Nancy had learned a lot about Lindsey as she'd helped train her, and she had a feeling that Jim would want to know about it.

Later on in the afternoon Nancy met up with Henry; she was not expecting to meet with a man that was as hostile towards Jim as he was. He didn't have one good thing to say about Jim, and told Nancy that he wouldn't be a bit surprised if they found Jim guilty of stealing the money. That put him at the top of Nancy's list.

* * *

Around five-thirty that evening Ned, Jim, and Nancy were sitting in the living room talking about what she had learned at work that day. They realized that while the information was helpful, especially what she figured out about Henry, and good, none of it would be enough. Nancy was certain that only concrete evidence would convince the owners not to press charges against Jim—or worse, to forget about bringing charges against him, and instead choose to fire him and thus put a black mark against his name for any other job.

Jim put his head in his hands, running his fingers through his hair. "What are we going to do?" He looked very forlorn.

Nancy put a comforting hand on his shoulder as she said, "Jim, we _will _clear your name, I just know it. I won't stop this until we do. I must say though that I never expected Lindsey to defend you the way she did."

Jim grunted softly. He was not about to believe Lindsey; there was just no way that she liked him, not after she had practically ignored him for the past two years.

Nancy left to go play with the kids a little bit before dinner. She had missed them like crazy; her mother-in-law took care of them while she was investigating. Ned and Jim continued to discuss the information gained from Mark, Lindsey, and Henry. Lindsey, however, was the most troubling to Jim.

**Author's Note: I am so very sorry—I relapsed with my cold, feeling better now, and I have been pretty busy with work. I hope that this chapter was a good one. I made it a longer one. **

**Thank you again to my beta. :)**

**Please read and review. :) **


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